Over the past couple months, I have been going through a Disney kick. For the sake of nostalgia, I dug up our old VHS tapes, simply to see what we had when I was a kid, as well as what we didn't have on DVD or blu-ray. Among those movies were Fun and Fancy Free, A Bug's Life, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Emperor's New Groove, and last but not least, Aladdin.
For years I had heard how great Aladdin was and saw the presence it has in Disney's marketing, but I had never actually seen it. Actually, when I opened up the tape, I could see the tape was largely unfinished and I don't think it was even watched before then. I remember watching reruns of the animated TV series back in the late 90s and early 2000s, but I never fully understood the concept and didn't really watch it if I could find something else. But overall, that was my only real exposure to the franchise.
Back in March, my parents were out of town and left me in charge of the house. Knowing I was going through a Disney phase, they surprised me with a copy of Aladdin on blu-ray. At long last I would be able to see it. When I finally sat down to see it, I loved it. Functioning the way I do, because I loved it, I ultimately wound up finding tapes of the sequels as well, and I will be talking about all of these things.
Synopsis (SPOILERS)
(Bear with me, this is going to be long.)
The story begins with our main antagonist, Jafar and with his parrot, Iago, finding the "Cave of Wonders", hoping to retrieve a magic lamp inside. However, they learn only one person may enter the cave, one who is more than he appears to be. A diamond in the rough. This diamond in the rough is revealed to be Aladdin, a quick witted, good natured boy who, along with his monkey, Abu, resorts to stealing to survive. Aladdin resents being looked down upon as a "street rat" and wants people to see that there is more to him.
All this time, we meet Princess Jasmine, an independent, strong willed young woman who is required by law to marry a prince by her next birthday, which is in a couple days. However, Jasmine detests being viewed as a prize by all her suitors and feels unfulfilled living in the palace. She soon decides to run away. Meanwhile, it is revealed Jafar is the top advisor to Jasmine's father, the Sultan, and is manipulating him with a magic staff. Jafar learns Aladdin is the "diamond in the rough" and sends guards to get him.
The following morning, unfamiliar with the marketplace, Jasmine accidentally gets in trouble with a shopkeeper until Aladdin notices and steps in. The two spend the day running away from guards and they make it back to Aladdin's home where they begin to connect emotionally. However this moment is disrupted by royal guards who arrest Aladdin, under Jafar's orders. When Jasmine confronts him, Jafar lies and says that Aladdin has been beheaded for allegedly kidnapping the princess.
Meanwhile, Aladdin is held prisoner, where another prisoner (which is Jafar in disguise) tells him about the Cave of Wonders and the riches inside. They escape the prison and head out to the Cave of Wonders. Once inside, Aladdin and Abu encounter a sentient magic carpet, who leads him to the lamp Jafar needs. However, the cave begins to collapse and they just barely make it to the mouth. Once he gets the lamp, Jafar reveals himself and betrays Aladdin, throwing him back into the cave as it shuts. However it turns out Abu was able to steal the lamp back just before the cave shut. Upon rubbing the lamp, a magic genie is released and is able to grant three wishes. Using his wit, Aladdin is able to con the genie into getting them out of the cave without sacrificing one of his wishes.
Contemplating what he wants to wish for, Aladdin asks the genie what he would wish for. The genie wants his freedom however can only get it if his master wishes for it. Aladdin then agrees to wish for the genie's freedom as his last wish. The genie has a set of rules when it comes to wishes: three is the limit: no wishing for more wishes. The genie is also unable to kill anybody, bring anybody back from the dead, or make anybody fall in love. However, he CAN make Aladdin a prince, thereby allowing him to marry Jasmine. While this is going on, Jafar, now believing the lamp to be lost forever, devises a plan with Iago to marry Jasmine himself in order to take power. However, this plan is threatened when Aladdin, under the guise of "Prince Ali Ababua" arrives to court Jasmine.
Jasmine is unimpressed with "Prince Ali's" pompous condescending attitude, believing him to be just like every other suitor that had come before him. However, Aladdin begins to let his true personality slip through. Realizing that this is the same guy she met at the marketplace, Jasmine begins to warm up to him. From there, the two go on a date using the magic carpet, which is seen in the famous "A Whole New World" segment. Despite advise from the Genie, Aladdin refuses to admit who he really is and continues the facade of Prince Ali, and Jasmine chooses him to be her husband. After the date, Aladdin is almost drowned under Jafar's orders, but is saved by the genie, at the expense of a wish. Aladdin then returns and exposes Jafar as a traitor when he destroys Jafar's staff, breaking any control Jafar has over the Sultan. Jafar then realizes "Prince Ali" is Aladdin and has the lamp and escapes arrest. Despite Jafar's betrayal, the Sultan is overjoyed to see Jasmine has chosen a suitor and informs Aladdin that he will someday become sultan, which troubles him.
Aladdin is now conflicted, worried that he won't be able to maintain his Prince Ali act and be Sultan in the future. Feeling like he can't go through with this without the genie's help, Aladdin refuses to release him, who is angered and goes into his lamp. Iago then is sent to steal the lamp and bring it back to Jafar. With Jafar as his new master, the genie reluctantly grants Jafar's wishes to be both sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. As he boasts his new powers, Jafar makes Jasmine and the Sultan his slaves and reveals Aladdin's humble origins. He then launches Aladdin, Abu and the carpet to another part of the world.
Aladdin is able to return and confront Jafar, who uses his street smarts to trick Jafar into using his last wish to turn into a genie, who, despite having phenomenal power, must be confined to a lamp and must serve a master. The genie then banishes Jafar's lamp to the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin apologizes to Jasmine for lying about who he was and must return to his regular life. Seeing how much Aladdin and Jasmine love each other, the Genie reminds Aladdin that he has one last wish and is willing to make him a prince again. Aladdin, unwilling to be something he is not, instead wishes for the genie's freedom. The genie is overjoyed with his new freedom and the two bid farewell as he goes off to see the world. Meanwhile, the Sultan realizes Aladdin's actions have proven himself to be worthy of his daughter, decides to change the law so now the princess can choose who to marry. The film ends with the genie flying off into the distance as Jasmine and Aladdin flying on the magic together.
My Thoughts
Of all the Disney movies I have seen, I think this is one of my favorites. It clearly is one of the more comedic and lighthearted Disney renaissance movies, thanks in large part to Robin Williams' fantastic performance as the Genie. Aside from the brilliant humor the he brought through his overall wackiness and celebrity impersonations, the Genie was a dynamic character who had depth and made the audience feel for him. One of the sweetest moments the film has is when the Genie is willing to give up his chance at freedom for Aladdin and Jasmine's love, and is both startled and touched when he hears otherwise. I was never a particularly big fan of Robin Williams, however I think it's pretty obvious he was crucial to the film's quality, and his absence can be felt in the sequel.
Jasmine is an interesting character and sort of conflicts me. She is as a confident, intelligent woman who refuses to be objectified and wants to be more independent, which is way she runs away from home. The problem is that while she is a strong character with admirable traits, once she comes back to the palace, she really doesn't have much to do for the rest of the movie other than fall in love with Aladdin and help him stop Jafar. While I think she is a good character, I think they wasted some of her potential.
One thing I should note is that even though it may not seem particularly remarkable, I actually found the carpet to be impressive. First and foremost, it fits in and is treated as a character, with a personality all on its own. One of the first assignments I had in my first animation class was to draw a flour sack and make it do something. The intended purpose of this assignment was to make us give an inanimate object personality even when it doesn't have a face or even limbs and after seeing this movie, I can say that the carpet is a textbook example of what we were supposed to achieve. I guess this truly is a testament to the Disney's masterful animation.
As with most Disney movies of the time, the movie features music composed by Alan Menken and has several memorable songs, most notably "A Whole New World". Ironically, I had head several of the songs years before I ever saw the movie. One thing I noticed about "A Whole New World" is that the soundtrack version is different from the version used in the movie -- at least instrumentally. Another thing that is neat about the soundtrack is that the version I have includes a couple of demos that were recorded by Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman that were not included in the movie. Both of these songs make references to characters and events not mentioned in the movie, such as Aladdin's mother or friends, and is neat to see what was in earlier versions of the story.
All in all, after seeing this movie, I am astounded I had not seen this movie sooner, because it is now one of my favorites and I encourage you to see it if you haven't and like Disney movies.
Jasmine is an interesting character and sort of conflicts me. She is as a confident, intelligent woman who refuses to be objectified and wants to be more independent, which is way she runs away from home. The problem is that while she is a strong character with admirable traits, once she comes back to the palace, she really doesn't have much to do for the rest of the movie other than fall in love with Aladdin and help him stop Jafar. While I think she is a good character, I think they wasted some of her potential.
One thing I should note is that even though it may not seem particularly remarkable, I actually found the carpet to be impressive. First and foremost, it fits in and is treated as a character, with a personality all on its own. One of the first assignments I had in my first animation class was to draw a flour sack and make it do something. The intended purpose of this assignment was to make us give an inanimate object personality even when it doesn't have a face or even limbs and after seeing this movie, I can say that the carpet is a textbook example of what we were supposed to achieve. I guess this truly is a testament to the Disney's masterful animation.
As with most Disney movies of the time, the movie features music composed by Alan Menken and has several memorable songs, most notably "A Whole New World". Ironically, I had head several of the songs years before I ever saw the movie. One thing I noticed about "A Whole New World" is that the soundtrack version is different from the version used in the movie -- at least instrumentally. Another thing that is neat about the soundtrack is that the version I have includes a couple of demos that were recorded by Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman that were not included in the movie. Both of these songs make references to characters and events not mentioned in the movie, such as Aladdin's mother or friends, and is neat to see what was in earlier versions of the story.
All in all, after seeing this movie, I am astounded I had not seen this movie sooner, because it is now one of my favorites and I encourage you to see it if you haven't and like Disney movies.
THE RETURN OF JAFAR
While many people remember Disney in the 90s for their string of acclaimed hits, they also remember it for the age when they started putting out cheap direct to video sequels that were almost always criticized. These films were produced not by the main feature studio, but rather DisneyToon Studios, which was devoted to straight to video sequels, TV show adaptations and the occasional original movie, like A Goofy Movie. The first of these direct to video movies was the Aladdin sequel: The Return of Jafar. I actually came across my copy of the film the day after I saw the original for the first time. The record store I go to not only sells CDs and DVDs, but they also sell VHS tapes, and I saw this one for a dollar. While I knew it probably wasn't going to be good, I was morbidly curious and bought it.
SYNOPSIS
After the events of the first movie, we see Aladdin, Abu and the carpet stealing treasure from a competing group of thieves, led by the Abis Mal. Meanwhile, we see that Iago has escaped Jafar's lamp, but refuses to release him and heads back to Agrabah, hoping to go back into the Sultan's good graces and return to a life of luxury. When he gets back to Agrabah, he is confronted by its citizens, but when he inadvertently saves Aladdin from Abis Mal and his cronies, he gains Aladdin's trust. Aladdin locks up Iago, but promises to give him fair trial. However, Aladdin does not tell Jasmine. After this, the Genie returns from seeing the world.
The main characters gather for a dinner where the Sultan announces he wants to make Aladdin his grand vizier (Jafar's old position). However, this dinner is interrupted when Iago is accidentally let loose and is chased by Jasmine's pet tiger, Rajah. The Sultan and Jasmine are both angered by Aladdin hiding Iago, but the Sultan allows Iago to live in palace as long as Aladdin is responsible for him. Iago then helps Aladdin regain Jasmine's trust.
Abis Mal comes to find Jafar's lamp and releases him. After Jafar tricks Abis into wasting his first two wishes, the two form an alliance due to their mutual goal of getting revenge on Aladdin. The two go to Agrabah and Jafar convinces a reluctant Iago to work with them. Aladdin and the Sultan then go off to discuss how to deal with Iago, when they are ambushed by Abis. The Sultan is then kidnapped. Meanwhile, Jafar confronts Aladdin's friends back home, locks them up and frames Aladdin for the presumed death of the Sultan.
Luckily, Iago's conscience shines through and he releases the Genie, allowing him to help save Aladdin from being executed and free the others. Aladdin learns the only way to kill Jafar is by destroying his lamp. They then engage in combat with Jafar, who ends up creating a large crack in the ground with his powers and surrounds Aladdin and his friends with magma. Iago then grabs the lamp and is injured by Jafar. However, he is able to kick the lamp into the magma, killing Jafar and returning everything back to normal. Iago is forgiven and is accepted back into the palace as a friend.
The main characters gather for a dinner where the Sultan announces he wants to make Aladdin his grand vizier (Jafar's old position). However, this dinner is interrupted when Iago is accidentally let loose and is chased by Jasmine's pet tiger, Rajah. The Sultan and Jasmine are both angered by Aladdin hiding Iago, but the Sultan allows Iago to live in palace as long as Aladdin is responsible for him. Iago then helps Aladdin regain Jasmine's trust.
Abis Mal comes to find Jafar's lamp and releases him. After Jafar tricks Abis into wasting his first two wishes, the two form an alliance due to their mutual goal of getting revenge on Aladdin. The two go to Agrabah and Jafar convinces a reluctant Iago to work with them. Aladdin and the Sultan then go off to discuss how to deal with Iago, when they are ambushed by Abis. The Sultan is then kidnapped. Meanwhile, Jafar confronts Aladdin's friends back home, locks them up and frames Aladdin for the presumed death of the Sultan.
Luckily, Iago's conscience shines through and he releases the Genie, allowing him to help save Aladdin from being executed and free the others. Aladdin learns the only way to kill Jafar is by destroying his lamp. They then engage in combat with Jafar, who ends up creating a large crack in the ground with his powers and surrounds Aladdin and his friends with magma. Iago then grabs the lamp and is injured by Jafar. However, he is able to kick the lamp into the magma, killing Jafar and returning everything back to normal. Iago is forgiven and is accepted back into the palace as a friend.
My Thoughts
From what I've gathered, the Aladdin sequels, while not considered particularly good, are among the better direct to video sequels. However, it is still a major step down from the movie. The movie was basically an extended pilot for the television series, and the animation quality is basically that of a Saturday morning cartoon and the fluidity, detail and care present in the film are gone and replaced with a cheap feel.
Unlike the first film, the songs in this movie are completely forgettable. Actually -- I take that back. I can remember, not one, but TWO songs with Gilbert Gottfried singing lead as Iago, which is grating experience.
Much like the animation, the writing simply feels like an extended TV episode. However, one thing that I thought was an interesting choice was putting so much emphasis on Iago and his character development from an antagonist into an anti-hero. From what I've seen, most straight to video Disney movies either focus on children of the protagonists, give a love interest to a character who didn't get one in the original, or serve as a midquel when the protagonist is younger. This one instead provides some character progression to a lower level character, which is not much but still interesting.
The biggest problem with this movie is that it lacks Robin Williams as the Genie. Because Disney went back on some agreements they made with Williams when making the first film, there was a major falling out between the two and Williams refused to come back for the sequel. Instead, Disney hired Dan Castellaneta, best known for playing Homer Simpson, to take his place. In some cases, I can actually hear voices that sound like Simpsons characters such as Homer or Barney Gumble. As a result, the voice seems off and out of place and the humor the genie brings lacks the genuine spontaneous nature and mirth found in the original film. That, coupled with the fact he doesn't have much to do in the movie, makes it seem like he's there just to be there and doesn't actually contribute much to overall viewing experience. This is a stark shift to the original where the Genie was was one of, if not, the biggest reasons to see the movie. Thankfully, Disney and Williams would make amends after this and he would come back for the second movie.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Being the collector I am, I was not satisfied with having just one of the sequels, even if it wasn't that good. As a result, I searched around and found a copy of Aladdin and the King of Thieves on VHS. For the record, I only bought the VHS version because the DVDs of these movies have been sealed away in the Disney Vault since 2008 and copies are much more expensive. Much like The Return of Jafar, Aladdin and the King of Thieves is not particularly good as a movie on its own. However, it is a step up compared to its predecessor.
SYNOPSIS
The film begins on Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding day with the kingdom of Agrabah preparing for the ceremony. Meanwhile, a group of thieves known as the Forty Thieves are preparing to raid the wedding. Prior to the ceremony, Aladdin goes back to the ruins he used to live in to find a dagger, which is the only thing he has left from his father, who he believes to be long dead. He confides in the genie that he is worried about what kind of father he will be. They then head to the wedding, which is interrupted by the Forty Thieves, with the King of Thieves searching for a particular scepter in the gifts. Aladdin is able to fight off the king and the Forty Thieves leave.
Aladdin realizes the scepter contains an oracle that can answer one question for every person about anything. The oracle hints his father is actually alive, and Aladdin uses his question to find out where his father is. He then learns his father is "trapped" with the Forty Thieves. He, Abu, Iago and the carpet then head off to find their hideout. There it is revealed Aladdin's father, Cassim is actually the King of Thieves. The reunion is short-lived as another member of the Forty Thieves, Sa'luk wants to punish Aladdin for finding their hideout. Cassim instead suggests Aladdin take part in the initiation process of joining the Forty Thieves by defeating one of its members and taking their place. Aladdin defeats Sa'luk by knocking him off a cliff and is accepted into the group. Cassim then reveals he left his wife and son to find the Hand of Midas, an object that turns anything it touches into gold. When he came back to Agrabah, his wife had died and could not find Aladdin, and carried on believing he was dead as well. Aladdin convinces Cassim to come back and live an honest life, and Cassim agrees once he learns he can still get to the Oracle. Meanwhile, Cassim and Iago also begin to form a friendship, bonding over their mutual appreciation for wealth and treasure.
It turns out Aladdin did not kill Sa'luk, who travels to Agrabah and sells out his fellow thieves and their hideout to the royal guards in exchange for immunity. He also reveals Aladdin is a member of the thieves and his father is their leader. He also convinces the remaining thieves who were not captured that Cassim is responsible for selling out the others. Cassim and Iago are jailed when they are caught stealing the oracle. Aladdin frees the two but refuses to run away with them and takes responsibility for his actions. When he gets back he is ultimately forgiven for his crimes after Jasmine and Genie convince the Sultan not to punish him.
Once Cassim reaches the old hideout with the Oracle, he is kidnapped by Sa'luk and the other thieves and is forced to use the oracle to lead them to the treasure, which is a marble fortress on the back of a giant sea turtle. Iago is able to escape and returns to Agrabah and convinces rallies Aladdin and his friends to save him. Aladdin, Iago, Abu, the Genie and the carpet all reach the turtle and Aladdin and Cassim find the Hand of Midas. They then confront Sa'luk, who takes Aladdin hostage. To save his son, Cassim tosses the Hand of Midas at Sa'luk, who turns into gold upon contact. Cassim admits that his son is the greatest treasure he could have. They then use the Hand of Midas to turn the remaining thieves' boats into gold and sink it. They then return to Agrabah, where Aladdin and Jasmine finally get married. Cassim attends the wedding in secret before heading off with Iago to travel the world.
It turns out Aladdin did not kill Sa'luk, who travels to Agrabah and sells out his fellow thieves and their hideout to the royal guards in exchange for immunity. He also reveals Aladdin is a member of the thieves and his father is their leader. He also convinces the remaining thieves who were not captured that Cassim is responsible for selling out the others. Cassim and Iago are jailed when they are caught stealing the oracle. Aladdin frees the two but refuses to run away with them and takes responsibility for his actions. When he gets back he is ultimately forgiven for his crimes after Jasmine and Genie convince the Sultan not to punish him.
Once Cassim reaches the old hideout with the Oracle, he is kidnapped by Sa'luk and the other thieves and is forced to use the oracle to lead them to the treasure, which is a marble fortress on the back of a giant sea turtle. Iago is able to escape and returns to Agrabah and convinces rallies Aladdin and his friends to save him. Aladdin, Iago, Abu, the Genie and the carpet all reach the turtle and Aladdin and Cassim find the Hand of Midas. They then confront Sa'luk, who takes Aladdin hostage. To save his son, Cassim tosses the Hand of Midas at Sa'luk, who turns into gold upon contact. Cassim admits that his son is the greatest treasure he could have. They then use the Hand of Midas to turn the remaining thieves' boats into gold and sink it. They then return to Agrabah, where Aladdin and Jasmine finally get married. Cassim attends the wedding in secret before heading off with Iago to travel the world.
My Thoughts
After the tape ended, I almost felt kind of lost. It gave the franchise closure, and it was sad to see these characters finally go off into the sunset after three movies. With that being said, I did not think the movie was that good. I thought it was marginally better than The Return of Jafar, but not by a whole lot.
While The Return of Jafar was the pilot for the TV series, Aladdin and the King of Thieves was the finale, and the quality of the two are very similar. The animation looks like that of a Saturday morning cartoon and the songs are just as unremarkable as those in the preceding movie, the only being no songs sung by Iago.
The story meanwhile is fairly cheesy, especially in the scenes where Aladdin talks about his father or any scene where he and Cassim interact. It's sweet, syrupy, and fairly predictable. The one thing I think The Return of Jafar benefitted from was the choice to make an established antagonist have a drastic change of heart and become one of the good guys. When Cassim is introduced, we see him purely as an antagonist without redeeming qualities for about the first 20 minutes before revealing his identity and making him an anti-villain/anti-hero mix.
What this movie does benefit from is the return of Robin Williams as the Genie. After Jeffrey Katzenburg left Disney, the company's new chairman made a public apology, and with a million dollar salary, Williams returned for the second sequel. This was actually a major selling point, because on the box, it explicitly reads "Starring Robin Williams" right under the title. Williams' return to the role brings back some of the natural spontaneous charm the Genie had in the original, which would have been a significant improvement over the preceding movie if they gave the character something to do in the story. Much like The Return of Jafar, he only really is there for throwaway jokes and using magic when the plot doesn't allow anything else. In this movie, he largely stays back with Jasmine and tries to entertain her while she worries about Aladdin.
All in all, in the realm of Disney DTV movies, this one is considered "okay", which is probably the highest praise I can give it. It brought back Robin Williams and ends the series on a sweet note, but that's about it.
All in all, in the realm of Disney DTV movies, this one is considered "okay", which is probably the highest praise I can give it. It brought back Robin Williams and ends the series on a sweet note, but that's about it.
Conclusion
After seeing this movie, I am astounded that I never saw it as a kid. The TV show never really stuck out to me when they would play reruns of it, but when you compare the original movie to the TV show-like sequels, it's apparent the movie is on a totally different plane. The movie has bright, lively animation, catchy, memorable songs, endearing characters and fun humor. The sequels... um... well, they cost $6 combined, which I guess is something.
Regardless, even if you never see the sequels, the original is a great movie along, and is one of my favorite Disney movies. However, I have yet to talk about my all time favorite, which is going to be my next Disney post.
No comments:
Post a Comment